After a tough loss to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football to open the season, the Detroit Lions have a short week to try and turn things around.
"We just take things day by day here," head coach Matt Patricia said Tuesday. "That's really the most important thing for us, is to try to focus on what we have to get done that day.
"Obviously, we have to have a lot of improvement from our performance last night that we have to get done here and we have to work real hard to get it done as fast as possible. But we just keep trying to do it every single day."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who took the blame for Monday night's loss after throwing four picks, does not expect a repeat performance, and neither do the San Francisco 49ers.
"A guy like Matt, he's been there before," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said in a conference call Wednesday. "He's a guy you expect to rip it up every week. I haven't looked at the stats, I could be wrong, but I'd be pretty surprised if he has a lot of games like that that go back to back.
"He's been one of the better quarterbacks in this league," Shanahan said. "He's made of the right stuff. Lots of guys come out and sling it around and usually early in their career they have those bad pick games and a lot of guys can't recover. Matt's been through that. That stuff doesn't bother him. We all know how talented he is, but it also shows how mentally tough he is.
"I fully expect to get Matt Stafford at his best on Sunday."
Stafford was listed on the injury report (shin), but was a full participant in practice all week.
"I feel fine," Stafford said. "I'll be good to go."
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO
The Lions will have their work cut out for them on the road against quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers. Garoppolo suffered his first loss as San Francisco's starting QB last week (5-1), but is still the guy the 49ers wanted him to be when they traded for him last year.
"I think Jimmy had so much success winning our team over, because the day he got here, just being the backup, he was one of the guys right away," Shanahan said in a conference call interview with the Detroit media.
"When he took over as the starter, nothing changed. After he won five games in a row, nothing changed. After he came back from (signing) a big contract, nothing changed. He had a tough game Sunday, he's been here the last three days. He's been the exact same guy.
"He works his butt off. He's one of the guys. He communicates with everybody. He's never too high, never too low. His demeanor in this building is exactly what you're looking for. In order to be a leader, you have to be yourself. Jimmy's himself."
Linebacker Eli Harold was with Garoppolo in San Francisco before being traded to the Lions late in the preseason. Harold had high praise for his old team leader.
"I feel like he can make every throw," Harold said. "He's the catalyst of that team. With him, they can be special. He has winning DNA."
For Mike O'Hara's full scouting report on the 49ers, click here.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS
- What do the Lions need to do to perform better in Week 2? Tim Twentyman covers that and more in his latest 10 Questions column.
- The Lions announced Tuesday that they were awarded offensive lineman Jamil Demby via waivers from the Los Angeles Rams.
- Catch up on all the news from Jim Bob Cooter and Paul Pasqualoni's Friday conference calls.
- Safety Glover Quin says the reduced snap count he saw Week 1 doesn't change anything for him.
